-LRB- CNN -RRB- I was deeply moved watching Julianne Moore win the Oscar for `` Still Alice , '' a movie I was proud and privileged to be an executive producer on . Julianne gives a harrowing performance as a brilliant 50-year-old college professor who loses her brain and herself to early-onset Alzheimer 's disease . This is a huge moment for Julianne -- and a huge moment for all of us who have been trying to focus public attention on this staggering disease .

Witnessing Alzheimer 's progress on the big screen is as terrifying as it is in real life . I know , because I 'm a child of Alzheimer 's . The mind of my father , Sargent Shriver , had always been a finely tuned instrument that left people in awe and inspired . But my family and I watched Alzheimer 's erase that brain -- slowly , inexorably , completely . It was terrifying , too , because back then , the disease was surrounded by shame and silence .

Alzheimer 's still carries a stigma of the unknown -- even though today more than 5 million Americans have it . That 's right . Every 67 seconds , another one of us develops Alzheimer 's . Women in their 60s are about twice as likely to develop Alzheimer 's as breast cancer . With 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day , there will be 13.5 million of us with Alzheimer 's by 2050 . And many people do n't understand that Alzheimer 's is n't a natural part of aging . Alzheimer 's is a disease that kills .

The truth is , we 're right in the middle of an epidemic , but we as a nation are in denial . An Oscar for `` Still Alice '' is shining the brightest light yet on Alzheimer 's , but light is n't enough anymore . Attention is n't enough . It 's time to get serious . Alzheimer 's is exerting a powerful impact on American families -- on our health , our finances , and our futures . And women are disproportionately affected .

Why women ? Back in 2010 , when we published `` The Shriver Report : A Woman 's Nation Takes on Alzheimer 's , '' we reported that women were more than half the individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer 's and nearly two-thirds of the unpaid caregivers of those who had it . Now those numbers are far worse . Today nearly two-thirds of those with Alzheimer 's are women -- that 's more than 3.2 million women . And more than 60 % of caregivers for people with Alzheimer 's and dementia are women , with many having to reduce their own workload or even drop out of the workforce altogether to care for loved ones .

Opinion : Why ` Still Alice ' is about you

Women are the epicenter of this crisis , which is why I believe they also have to be the solution . So , in partnership with the Alzheimer 's Association and so many inspiring women already working on the front lines to fight this disease , we have launched the Wipe Out Alzheimer 's Challenge , a multipronged campaign powered by women 's brains .

Our mission is to enlist women of all ages to get educated , engaged and empowered to instigate change . Women around the country will go out and raise the alarm , raise awareness , raise the stakes and raise millions of dollars to fund serious research into women 's brains .

And there 's so much research to do and so many questions to answer . Why is the incidence of Alzheimer 's higher for women ? Nobody knows . And why is it that women in their 60s are so much more likely to get Alzheimer 's than breast cancer ? Nobody knows . What 's the exact role of estrogen ? We do n't know . Is there an Alzheimer 's connection with depression or with diabetes ? What about genetics ? What can be done during the 20 or so years when the disease develops , before a woman even becomes symptomatic ? What 's the impact of diet , stress level , exercise , sleep and cardiovascular condition ? It 's time to find out .

We have to fund this research , because for some reason it 's not a priority for the government . In 2015 , Washington will spend an estimated $ 6 billion on cancer research and $ 3 billion on HIV/AIDS research , but only $ 586 million on Alzheimer 's . Yet , as the Alzheimer 's Association tells us , `` the costs to all payers for the care of people living with Alzheimer 's disease and other dementias will total an estimated $ 226 billion , with Medicare and Medicaid paying 68 percent of the costs . ''

I do n't get it , but I 'm not going to wait anymore .

So Wipe Out Alzheimer 's is stepping in . We 're asking women to put together their own `` brain trusts '' in their communities -- groups that will go out and do some muscular fund-raising . But equally important , these brain trusts will gather to discuss and disseminate information about what the disease is and is n't . What are the warning signs we should look for in ourselves and our parents ? What 's the difference between normal forgetfulness , dementia and Alzheimer 's disease ? Can brain games or meditation slow cognitive decline ? Do dietary supplements help ?

Local brain trust groups will also learn about the devastatingly high cost of Alzheimer 's -- how neither Medicare nor the Affordable Care Act covers long-term care , and the cost of a semiprivate nursing home room averages more than $ 80,000 a year . They 'll reach out to help and encourage women whose loved ones have Alzheimer 's . They will be politically engaged and encourage political candidates who support increased funding for Alzheimer 's research . They 'll push their own doctors to get better-educated about cognitive health .

It 's time for the narrative around Alzheimer 's to change . I remember when an HIV/AIDS diagnosis was a death sentence . I remember when cancer was a dirty word , and the prognosis was always grim . But AIDS and cancer activists are helping to take these diseases from terrifying to treatable , from hopeless to hopeful . We want to do the same with Alzheimer 's . We want to understand it , prevent it , treat it and beat it . Wipe Out Alzheimer 's is creating a global community of women activists , agitators and agents of change to do just that .

We used to think that the mysterious condition called Alzheimer 's disease happened only to folks in their 80s and 90s . `` Still Alice '' shows us that 's just not true .

The race for the Oscar may be over , but the race to wipe out Alzheimer 's is on .

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Maria Shriver 's father was stricken by Alzheimer 's , a growing scourge in U.S.

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Women are disproportionately affected as sufferers and caregivers , she says

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Wipe Out Alzheimer 's Challenge is launching to fill in for lagging government funding , she says